Occasional Whisky Review
What better way to start the new year than with a drink? Well, I got myself good and toasted over the break and my liver isn’t thanking me, but I’ve decided to take advantage of an opportune sale in the local big-name supermarket to get my hands on something that I think is a little unique. It’s a glenlivet, 15, but this one is aged in French limousin oak, apparently. European oak has a very different effect on the whisky aged within it and tends to have fragrances of sandalwood, cedar and sulphury notes underneath.
Anyway this one, the case it comes in is very attractive. Normally I just ignore the box, but they’ve gone to great lengths to make it look special. It’s all faux leather with stitching and buckles and badges, so very nice to look at by itself. There’s a bit of harking back to the supposed lost age in here I think…
Anyway, to the whisky itself. All glenlivets look the same to me, a rather fetching ruddy gold, but this one seems to be a little darker which I can only assume is down to the sherry casks they’ve used. European oak again. The box mentions cedarwood as an aroma but on top of that I can smell something spicy. Cloves, a little paprika. I can smell the cedar again now. Ahh, and after that there’s a hint of that sulphur but it seems to be hiding behind peardrops, oddly enough, and something that smells a little of aniseed. Veeery nice… just a tiny hint of apple.
Sulphur. Strange how it’s not an overpowering taste even though it’s definitely there. Of course nearly all taste is actually smell so it shouldn’t be a surprise, but that last little sensation in the mouth can make or break a whisky. I’m actually not that impressed with this one. It tastes a little heavier and a little, I guess, a little more bitter. There’s a lot of vanilla in the aftertaste and more of that aniseed. It’s very smooth, rolls down the throat nicely.
It would seem that glenlivet are attempting to hark back to the pre-war days of whisky, when the majority was matured in european sherry oak rather than american oak. I am impressed by the attempt, but I’m not quite so impressed by the result, which is a little heavy and oily for my tastes. I won’t knock them though; it’s a very fine whisky and I shall be attempting to keep a bottle of it in my collection for as long as it’s available.
